If you’re a UVA student, you probably had a nice nine-day vacation last week (well, unless you visited family). But for the workers at the University’s facilities operations department, when the students were away, there was simply no time to play.
“When the students are here, it’s going 24-7 most of the time. During the break, we’re getting the things done we couldn’t get to normally while the main traffic is here,” says Jimmy Williams, assistant superintendent with building services. The facilities operations department, which covers building services, maintenance, renovations and grounds work, didn’t have much of a Thanksgiving break at all. In fact, Williams says last week’s vacation time was a week when the crews there had a chance to work on issues such as light replacement, heating/air repair, painting and other minor maintenance work around the campus.
For building services, last week meant a thorough cleaning of the classrooms, rewaxing floors and even window repairs. In the past—if it wasn’t an emergency situation—the upgrading of campus heating/cooling systems or electrical systems were postponed until students left for break. Most often, Williams says, the repairs are minor or general maintenance work. But that’s just on the inside. For those who stayed in Charlottesville for the fall holiday, you would have seen the landscaping crew working overtime on leaf collection across the grounds.
“It’s even more so with Christmas break,” Williams said. “For Thanksgiving break, it’s a week we have, but for the Christmas break, it’s generally three weeks of uninterrupted time for us.”